Mamdani Rebukes DHS Flight Threat and Calls ICE 'Cruel and Inhumane'

Overview

• New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani told MSNBC's The Briefing on Thursday that he views Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions as "cruel and inhumane" and said the agency operates with impunity.
• Mamdani defended the city's sanctuary policy as a public-safety measure and an expression of New York's immigrant identity, noting the city is home to more than three million immigrants.
• Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News his department is "drawing up plans" to stop processing international flights into sanctuary cities that restrict federal immigration work, a move that would affect major hubs like JFK.
• Mamdani said New York "will not be threatened" and declined to detail the timing of private conversations he has had with President Trump, while confirming he has raised immigration concerns in those talks.
• Coverage of the exchange appears across outlets with differing lenses, but reporters agree the dispute escalates longstanding tensions over detention-center conditions, local autonomy, and possible federal coercion of city services.